Contents

Early
life

The only child of Rosalia and Amadeo Saburido, she lived in Caracas, Venezuela for all of her
childhood. Living with her father after her parents divorced, she began studying
engineering in the hope of taking over the family air conditioning
business. In 1999, Saburido was struggling in college and decided
to take a break. She took a trip to Texas to study the English language.

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The
accident

On September 19, 1999, Saburido attended a birthday party near
Austin, Texas.
She and her friends decided to head home after a few hours.
Saburido and her friends, Laura Guerrero, Johan Daal and Johanna
Gil, accepted a ride home from a classmate, Natalia Chpytchak
Bennett. Reginald Stephey, a 17-year-old high school student, was on his way home
after drinking beer with his friends at a party. On the outskirts
of Austin, Stephey's 1996 GMC Yukon veered into Bennett's 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency. Bennett's
car was carrying Saburido and the others.

Guerrero and Bennett were killed instantly. Gil and Daal were
injured but not seriously. Saburido's feet were trapped under the
seat and she could not get out. The car caught fire. Two paramedics, John McIntosh
and Bryan Fitzpatrick, happened to be driving past when Stephey
flagged them down. The flames were leaping several feet up into the
air as they arrived. McIntosh put out the fire with his
extinguisher and the two men set about removing everyone from the
vehicle.

Saburido was trapped, and the fire returned. McIntosh and
Fitzpatrick were forced back, and Saburido was left to burn for
around 45 seconds as the flames engulfed the vehicle. A fire truck
arrived and put out the fire, Saburido was cut from the car and
airlifted to the burns unit in Galveston.

Jacqueline Saburido after the accident with her cousin Yeli, father
Amadeo, and Dr. Schecter.

Saburido suffered second and third degree burns to over 60
percent of her body. She survived, reportedly despite the
expectations of her doctors. All of her fingers had to be
amputated, but there was enough bone left on her thumb to construct
an opposable thumb. She lost her hair, ears,
nose, lips, left eyelid and much of her vision. She has undergone
more than 40 operations since the crash, including cornea transplants, which have
restored her left eye, and she has many more to go.

Aftermath

Saburido allowed graphic post-accident photographs of herself to
be used in the media (posters, TV-commercials, and internet chain
mail) to illustrate a possible outcome of drunk driving.[3]
She is most well known for a commercial in which she holds a
pre-accident photo of herself in front of the camera, which she
lowers to reveal her disfigured face and says, "This is me, after
being hit by a drunk driver." When asked why she appeared in the
campaign, Saburido stated "I feel very good to do it because I know
people can understand a little more what happened to me -- why my
life changed completely. So I think for me, for everybody, it's a
good opportunity."[4]

In order to ensure the material involving Saburido that was used
in an ad campaign by the Texas Department of Transportation in
schools, the videos and photos taken of her involved the use of
soft lighting to improve her appearance and consultation with child
psychologists to ensure the material, although graphic, would not
frighten children.[4]

Regarding her life after the accident, Saburido stated that she
has never given up: "If a person stumbles, he must pick himself up
and keep going. I believe this is very important; if not, life
would not have much sense."[3]

Saburido's story was featured in the motivational presentation
Inside Out by Motivational Productions.

Saburido is currently living in Kentucky, to enable better transportation to
her doctors.[3]

Forgiveness of Stephey

Saburido and Stephey met for the first time after his trial and
conviction in 2001. Saburido has stated that Stephey "destroyed my
life. Completely" but forgave him. Regarding the meeting, Stephey
later stated that "What sticks out in my mind is, 'Reggie, I don't
hate you.' It's really touching someone can look you in the eyes
and have that much compassion after all that I have caused."

Stephey's served his full sentence, having an appeal denied in
2005. He was released from the Huntsville Unit in Texas on June 24,
2008[6].
Saburido stated: "I don't hate him, I don't feel bad because he's
out, he can reconstruct his life again."[7].

In a video posted on Metacafe.com, Stephey describes his life
since he was incarcerated while Saburido describes her life after
the accident.[8]

Face
transplant

Saburido is among the 20 disfigured people who have approached
surgeons at a London hospital
to carry out Britain's first face transplant
operation.[9]. She is
also looking into other possibilities for a face transplant in
other nations and hospitals. [10][11]